


Taking Things As They Come

by mmmdraco



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-17
Updated: 2012-07-17
Packaged: 2017-11-10 04:06:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmdraco/pseuds/mmmdraco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hikaru finds his way to Akira after finding Sai in his go, and somehow they end up "hanging out".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Things As They Come

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Touya and Hikaru don't belong to us. No profit.
> 
> Co-writte with bonnejeanne (datenshiblue).

There was something different about the light, though Hikaru couldn't figure out what it was. Everything looked different. His heart was no longer racing as it had been during the game. Everything felt slow. And once again, he felt alone.

His mind didn't make the decision and lead his steps to the Go parlor. Something else did that. Looking up at the sign, he remembered the first time he'd come here, just for Sai, with no interest in Go at all himself.

Pushing open the door, he stepped in.

'He won't be here,' he thought. 'He's a pro now, and while I have been away, he's been advancing. But it doesn't matter. I can find someone to play.'

Stepping up to desk, he placed the fee on the counter, not noticing the startled look of the young lady behind it.

He immediately felt a pull toward the room where he had first played. Though it was slightly darker than the main room, it seemed more inviting to him. With his first step inside, his heart felt relieved. Sitting at a table, without an opponent, was the boy he had come to find. His power at Go was something the boy had long searched for, hoping to find some way to make a match for him in himself. After all, Touya Akira knew no opponents but his father, and that opponent no longer existed on his professional playing field. He needed someone to keep him in check.

Finding confidence that he hadn't known for a while now, Shindou Hikaru took a deep breath and knew somehow that he finally had enough strength to face Touya. Playing with Sai had taught him all that he needed to know in order to be a true opponent for this boy sitting with his back to him.

Taking soft steps, Hikaru approached Touya and tapped him gently on the shoulder. Touya turned quickly - he had been absorbed in kifu - and smiled. "Shindou... I've been waiting."

Hikaru's eyebrows rose. "Waiting?" he said, feeling his heart begin to speed up. He pulled out the chair on the other side of the small table. "Since when?" And he thought at the same time, 'For me? Or for Sai...'

Gesturing for Hikaru to take a seat opposite him, Touya set aside his kifu and replied. "In truth, I've been waiting for a while now... pretty much since you passed the pro exam. We've had a few chances to play since them, but it seems like something has always managed to come up. I'm ready to play you. Everyone says such great things about you now, and none of it goes with the image I have of you in my head. Has the time finally come for me to be able to reconcile those differences?"

A frown drew Hikaru's eyebrows together. Did Touya think he had forgotten the day he'd brushed right past him, ignoring his greeting? His temper flared. 'Waiting... no, you've been walking as fast as you could to keep ahead of me, and I...' But once again, he stopped. Ahead of him, Hikaru?

"You're wrong," he said, but his voice was calm and his eyes steady and he sat down. "It was never me you wanted to play. But it's too late and I'm the one who's going to beat you."

Reaching out, he took the bowl of black stones and pulled it towards him.

Touya took the bowl of white stones. "At first, you didn't seem like a threat. Maybe you were just lucky for a long period of time. That happens with some Go players. They don't necessarily have talent; merely luck. I mistakenly thought that of you at the time. Now, I feel your breath on my neck from where you are trying to overtake me. It makes the competition that much sweeter to have another reason to triumph than just to win titles."

After determining who would begin, Hikaru (as black) took the first move. He placed his stone on the upper right star and settled his face as he concentrated on the game. Touya saw the fire in his eyes and was filled with a similar determination. However, having been fighting forward, he had no way to fathom what was coming for him now. He forced himself to play as well as he could, better than he ever had before, just in case Shindou was as good as everyone said. If he were, Touya would find out. If Shindou was that good, maybe Touya would finally have a rival.

In their first games, Touya remembered having the strange impression that there was someone behind his opponent - someone hidden in shadows, whose face he could never see, who's hand was revealed only when the stones were placed on the board. Then, in the school tournament match that had so disappointed him, he remembered the sense that the waiting presence was standing back, and the solid feeling behind each of Hikaru's moves - energy, but a difference in skill that had left him angry with himself for having wasted so much of his time pursuing the other boy.

For the first time, as they played, he felt a tingle run up his spine. Hikaru's moves had the same energy, but a whole new level of skill. It wasn't the skill of the hand from the shadows... well, it was but... no, no it definitely wasn't the same. He was facing the opponent he could see. But the strength in his game was like nothing Touya had faced before. It reminded him of his father in one thing - the sheer, laser-like focus. It called to his skill, summoned it, demanded it. Before he knew what was happening, the board was half covered in stones, and a small crowd had gathered in the silence broken only by the tap of placed pieces.

For Hikaru, the crowd did not exist, the universe did not exist. For the first time, heart racing, he felt as if he were drawing a sword, and the plink of the stones rang like metal as his opponent's weapon met his.

As they battled on the board, Hikaru's heart took to beating just a bit faster. This was what the game was about: playing worthy opponents who challenged you so much it took your breath away. With every move he made, Touya seemed to have a way to counter it until it felt very much like he was being toyed with, yet when he looked up and met Touya's gaze, he knew that Touya felt the same way. Shields were dropped, and each player went for the other with all of the Go strength that they possessed.

Touya, watching Hikaru's moves, couldn't believe that Hikaru had lost against Kurata-san. Though Kurata was older and more experienced, Hikaru seemed to have almost mastered the game. It seemed the only thing left for him was... the Hand of God. Could it be? Could Shindou now be the closest to mastering the Hand of God, thereby leaving Touya in his wake? He couldn't let that happen. His moves were suddenly sharper, faster, and with more purpose behind them than any other stones he had ever placed. This game was suddenly more important than any title game, or tournament match. It was more important than a game against his father or Ogata-san. He wouldn't give this game up for a match against Honinbo Shuusaku himself!

Both boys were wrapped up in the passion for the game, for playing each other. The intensity of the game seemed to brighten the room until everything but this particular goban and the two boys quickly placing stones upon it seemed to fade away, even to the audience. But to Touya and Hikaru, this board meant so much more than just a good game. It had become a fight to the finish.

As something shifted within Touya, calling on skills he'd only guessed at even in himself, Hikaru felt it as well. And he could see the end. His abstinence from Go while he searched for Sai had left a tiny edge of his weapon dull. This match was honing the edge even as they played, but... reading ahead further than Touya, further than any of the spectators could, he saw it. Even as they placed the next few stones, he played out the end in his mind, searched for alternatives...

And stopped. "I resign," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. It will have to be next time, that I beat you."

Touya's eyes opened wide. "We're not finished yet!"

Hikaru shook his head. "Every outcome... At the least, I'd lose by a half moku."

Glancing at the board for a moment, Touya was floored. "You... saw that far ahead while we were playing like that? No wonder everyone says you're so good now." He laughed and sat back in his seat, not having realized just how far he sat up to keep an eye on the board. "It's almost like you've been possessed by the spirit of Go." He laughed again and Hikaru let out a tense laugh in response. Touya couldn't know, could he?

"But, truly, Shindou... You've improved beyond my wildest dreams. You pushed me to my limits and I had lost all certainty about who might win. Thank you for the game."

Hikaru held out his hand and shook Touya's when it was handed to him. "Thank you! Now, the least you can do after you've been waiting for me all this while is treat me to ramen, huh?"

Touya grinned and tilted his head just slightly as he looked at Hikaru. Perhaps the world of Go wasn't ready for this sort of change. But, then again, stranger things had happened. The boy seated across from him was proof enough of that.

It wasn't quite so easy to escape from the Go parlor - the onlookers had comments, exclamations, and a lot of questions. Hikaru had to explain his reading of the game, something even Touya found fascinating. When they managed to get away, Hikaru sighed loudly, wiping his forehead. "I hope you can pay for a double helping," he commented, leading Touya to the nearest ramen place unerringly. He found himself glancing at his rival, wondering if he'd done something that would have made Sai proud. It felt selfish, and sobered him. But at least Touya was taking him seriously, and this time for himself.

When they entered the restaurant, passing underneath the banner proclaiming the store's name, Hikaru breathed in the scent and grinned widely again. "I love ramen," he said very seriously to Touya. "It's always different. That's what I like about Go, too. I can replay games that I like a lot, reuse tactics that work well, but trying new things and having them work is the most fun of all." He promptly ordered the miso ramen, a large helping, and was followed by Touya ordering the pork ramen. As Touya paid, Hikaru began talking again. "It would be cool if the white Go stones looked like naruto."

Touya paused from putting his change up. "Naruto?"

"The little white fish things with the red spirals! Anyone who eats ramen knows that."

"This is my first time having ramen."

Hikaru's head fell to one side. "You just haven't lived then. Come on, Touya. You're going to love this!"

Hikaru kept his eye on Touya to see his reaction to the (to him) heavenly noodles, but concentrated on eating with almost as much intensity as he'd played Go. It occurred to him that he hadn't been this hungry in a while, and hadn't actually enjoyed eating for about the same amount of time. It drew a pensive flicker across his face that faded as he leaned back, patting his stomach. "Arigato. I needed that," he said, his eyes crinkling as he watched Touya deal with the mound of noodles he hadn't even managed to get halfway through.

Touya bit off the noodles and let the remainder fall across his chopsticks as he caught Hikaru's eye. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "It's very interesting. There are a whole lot of flavors here. But, how can you eat it so fast? It just doesn't want to slide past my lips that fast!" He laughed and took a sip of his water. "How often do you eat ramen? Once a week or something like that?"

"Once a... week?" Hikaru looked horrified. "Well, I guess if it's a bad week. As for how... I dunno. I was hungry. I haven't been eating much lately and my appetite came back, I guess." He shrugged and glanced off out the shop's front window. Then he glanced back, picked up his chopsticks and grinned mischievously. "Of course, if you need some help..." he said, and snagged a few noodles.

Touya let out a gasp of indignation and stabbed at the retreating noodles with his own chopsticks. "Shindou!" Stabbing, however, had no effect but to break some of the noodles so that they drooped over the edge of the bowl. Touya tried to grab the noodles, but they were too slippery and Hikaru was too skilled at handling ramen. Touya's mouth hung open as he watched Hikaru slurp up the noodles, only to have the tail end of one get out of control and smack him on the cheek. Touya snorted, then covered his mouth. He giggled for a moment, then said, "It serves you right, Shindou."

Unabashed, Hikaru wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. "I could say the same," he answered cheerfully. 

"It's not my fault that I eat slower than you. I've never had ramen before. I didn't know how to eat it. And... the noodles are so long!" Touya felt indignant, but he was amused as well. He and Shindou had a sort of camaraderie going. Perhaps this could lead to more and more exciting games of Go for the two of them.

Pausing for a moment, Touya grabbed Hikaru's bowl and pulled it closer to his own, then began to put some of his ramen in it. When he had finished, he pushed it back toward Hikaru. "There. Now, I'll try to eat faster and you try to eat slower, and we'll both think of what to do after this."

Hikaru shrugged. He hadn't thought of anything more exciting to do after this than go home and take a nap - he was exhausted. However... it sounded as if Touya was expecting them to 'hang out'... Wow. Hanging out with Touya Akira...

"I don't think we have much in common besides Go," Hikaru said without thinking.

Touya blinked. "What else do you like to do for fun? I like to go bowling, actually. It's so different from Go. I don't get to play often, but when I've just had a really tough game, I like to bowl so that I can think about the game but not think too much about it. I'm a really bad player because of that, though. Or we could just go some place and talk."

Hikaru blinked. He tried to picture Touya bowling. His mental image-maker was not up to it.

"What else? Well.. ah..." What did he used to do for fun, before Sai? Skateboard... hadn't done that in a while. I don't even know where my pads and gear and stuff are any more, he thought. "How did you know I'd be back?" he asked abruptly.

It took Touya a moment to answer. "I guess I just couldn't think about not playing you. It was always 'When I play Shindou' not 'If I play Shindou'. You just always seemed to be there at first, so I couldn't think about you not being here now when everyone was saying that I should play you. To hear that you had improved so much sounded like a dream come true. I honestly couldn't wait. That's why I took to studying in my father's Go salon again. I figured that... you would know where to find me if I was there. And I was right." He coughed and took another sip of his water, then cleared his throat briefly. "When you weren't showing up for your games, I didn't know what happened. No one did. It wasn't as though you had suffered some great loss, unless it was a game that no one saw... or something else." He paused. 

Touya took a deep breath, then continued. "I've thought about quitting before. It was because I lost to you that first time. I couldn't take that loss. Then, suddenly, I was determined to beat you after that just to prove that I could. Then, I did beat you and I was disappointed because it almost felt like you didn't try. So, I guess it only seemed natural that you would have to come for me again to prove yourself."

Hikaru was a little shocked to hear Touya admit he'd thought about quitting. Looking back, he could see himself clearly and the memory wasn't a comfortable one. He'd had no idea what he was doing, just blundered into a world that he knew nothing about.

"Even I didn't know I was coming back," he said softly. "I almost didn't." He thought about it and the next sentence just slipped out, leaving him clapping a hand over his mouth as he heard himself.

"The game with your father, that was Sai's last game..."

"Shindou..." Touya took a deep breath. "Are you Sai?" For all of the time that Touya had rationalized that Shindou and Sai could not possibly be the same person, that conclusion always seemed to come to the forefront whenever new information was brought into play. Hikaru was always in the right place, at the right time, to know everything, it seemed. How deep did his knowledge go, and was it because he was the Go master that everyone wanted to play? This secret... It seemed like everything he knew about Hikaru was in balance, but perfectly poised to fall completely apart with just this one bit of information. "Shindou..."

Hikaru got up abruptly, pausing for a moment to look down at Touya before grabbing his tray and taking it over to the rack. "No," he answered, and there was more than finality in the one word. There was deep sadness. The loss that Touya had guessed at earlier was suddenly palpable.

Deciding that pushing the issue might damage whatever relationship was beginning to form between them, Touya tried to change the topic. "We could go for dessert, if you like. There's a great new shaved ice place by my house. Or maybe an ice cream parlor? We could get chocolate chips and marshmallows and pretend they're Go stones!"

Returning to the table, Hikaru leaned over and took Touya's tray as well. He didn't answer until he'd put it up, then paused by the table, waiting for Touya to get up. When they were on eye level, he said, "You decide. I'm not that hungry any more." Then he smiled. "Usually you're the one who's totally serious. This is a different side of you."

Touya stared at Hikaru for a while, just taking in all of the details that he normally neglected to see. He had done this once before, just after Hikaru had beaten him the first time, and now he compared those details with the ones he was collecting now. Hikaru was very much so a creature of habit, so his hair was still cut in the same way with the exact same portion of hair dyed that brash blond color. But, his eyes already crinkled slightly around the edges from laughing because he loved life. His nose was slightly more in proportion with his face than it had been. His mouth was more... lively? Touya couldn't be certain, but Hikaru had definitely changed. Then again, he had as well. "Shindou... would you like to play another game?"

"Of course," Hikaru said, then the smile got a little wider. "But maybe without an audience next time. At least until our next formal match. But I kind of had the impression you wanted to... 'hang out'." He thought for a moment, and then said, "Come on, there's something I want to show you... er, of course you may have seen it already but..." Shaking his head, he grabbed the other boy's hand impulsively and pulled him out the door of the shop.

Touya could only laugh as he was pulled through the streets, Hikaru's hand grasping his own all along the way. "Shindou," he managed to gasp out as Hikaru sped to a run. "Where are we going?" His hair was flying back from his face and it seemed like the entire city was walking in the opposite direction of them. In all, it was an unforgettable experience. But, many of the times he had spent with Hikaru had been just that: unforgettable.

They ended up at Honmyo Temple. Hikaru led the way through the grounds and stopped at a gravesite. Pausing in front of it, Hikaru took a deep breath. "Touya, meet Sai."

Touya was confused. "Shindou... this is Shuusaku's grave. Who... who is Sai?" He tried to approach the topic gently, not wanting to over-excite the other boy, as he almost always seemed to. In retrospect, today was a rather calm day between the two of them.

Hikaru sighed. "Yes, I know. And actually, it isn't really Sai's grave at all. I don't think he ever had one, because he drowned in a big river. But if you played Sai, you played Shuusaku. That's... that's really all I can say."

Not feeling anywhere closer to understanding, Touya asked the first question that came to mind, "Have you played Shuusaku? Done more than study the kifu?"

Hikaru glanced down at his hands. "Well, this will sound just as crazy as the rest, but yes. He taught me how to play." Looking up at Touya, Hikaru shrugged. "It doesn't bother me that you think I'm loony or something. I'm tired of worrying about it."

Deciding that a time might come when Hikaru might explain this further, Touya took it in stride. "You're lucky, then. To learn from Shuusaku... and learn modern strategy at the same time! It's no wonder you're so good now compared to how you were. Perhaps Shuusaku's methods are uncouth, causing you to be a fearsome wonder at the beginning and end of your training, but a mere novice in between which throws your opponents off. It's an interesting idea, to say the least." Touya paused, discontent with his own words. "Did you know who I was the first time you played me?"

Hikaru blushed. "I just knew you were my age. Everyone else in the Go parlor was old." He didn't say anything about Touya's theory of training methods, but could not keep a small smile off his face.

Touya grinned, looking up at the sky as the first whispers of dusk were beginning to roll in. It wouldn't be dark for a while, but the moon would begin to show in about an hour. What crazy thing would Hikaru have him doing before that time? "Do you ever really stop to think about what the Hand of God really is? I mean, is it a level of playing in which you always know exactly how to play? Or, it is some sort of spiritual intervention that shows you where to place the stones? If you obtain the Hand of God, what will happen to you?" He looked back down at Shuusaku's grave, sinking down before it so that his arms wrapped comfortably around the front of his knees. "I still can't believe you beat me that first time. I was so sure of myself. I was playing against my father with only a few stones to start, and this brat of a kid comes along and practically beats the pants off me!" He looked up at Hikaru again. "I think I might have been less humiliated if you had actually taken my pants."

Touya's last remark startled a laugh out of Hikaru. A sudden image of Touya surrendering his pants... but the mental picture wasn't Touya when they'd first met, but Touya now... and inexplicably, it pulled a blush back to his fair cheeks.

"Maybe the Hand of God is leaving behind whatever you're sure of, so you can find something you never could have found any other way," he said, sitting next to Touya. 

Looking around suddenly, Touya stood. "Hey, we're near my house." He turned back to Hikaru. "Are you up for that game after all? If we can't think of anything better to do, we might as well play."

Rising to his feet also, Hikaru nodded. "Okay."

Once again, they were fighting against an endless crowd as Touya pushed through the throngs and Hikaru stumbled after him. It was only after a moment that Hikaru was nearly whisked away, so Touya grasped his hand firmly and pulled him along toward his house. Hikaru was too busy trying to stay close to Touya to notice the hesitation that had been present just as Touya was about to grab him. Then, he was so busy attempting not to blush that he missed the appreciative smile that Touya gave him as their hands entwined.

When they arrived, Touya smiled. "It's just as I left it. My parents are in China this week, so it's only me here until they come back. I've had some people over for games, but nothing much. Come on. I'll show you the training room." 

 

"Your house is nice," Hikaru said, looking around as he was led from one room to another. Then he felt dumb for saying it - of course Touya's house was nice. He also imagined he could feel the energy of Go saturating it, but that was probably his never-quiet imagination.

Touya could tell that Hikaru was nervous. So, he simply did as he had said and pulled Hikaru along to the training room. He gently slid the door open and watched Hikaru's reactions, smiling as he then gave Hikaru a slight nudge into the room.

The room was neat and quiet, with orderly shelves for books of kifu, several gobans, the colors of the cushions and drapes in calm blues and greens.

It reminded Hikaru of the quiet, self-possessed boy who had become such a dominating force in his life.

First he walked around the room, looking at things, and then moved towards one of the gobans, looking at Touya questioningly.

Gesturing for Hikaru to sit, Touya asked, "Would you like anything to drink before we nigiri? We don't have ramen broth, I'm sorry to say, but I'm sure I can dig up a soda or some juice that wouldn't kill you." Beneath his hospitality, Touya was nervous about whether or not he would be able to beat the other boy again. But, he took a deep breath and held it as he waited for Hikaru no answer.

"What do you drink at home?" Hikaru asked, his curiosity about Touya only whetted by this visit. The house was so quiet - Touya had said everyone else was gone but it felt kind of weird to be here. Kind of... adult.

Touya shrugged. "Um, I actually drink a lot of pineapple juice. But if we don't have any, I'll usually have milk. Between the two, I somehow don't get heartburn or ulcers." He paused. "Did you want either of those? We also have coconut milk, some Pocari Sweat that Ogata-san left here, and I think there's a can of the chrysanthemum juice that my mom likes. It sort of tastes like pear. It's not bad, actually."

"Milk," Hikaru said, "Arigato." He followed Touya just so he could see what the kitchen looked like.

The kitchen was only just down the hallway from the training room. Touya was struck momentarily by the fact that most kids his age to whom he might say, 'I'll show you the training room,' would then likely ask, 'Training for what?' Hikaru was so much like him in some ways... so single-minded and determined to be strong no matter what. Yet, take away the goban and they were complete opposites.

Touya opened the door to the kitchen and led Hikaru inside. "And, this is the kitchen. I try to stay out of here for the most part. My mother is an excellent cook, and she's shown me some of what she knows, but I think she's saving all of her special secrets to teach to whomever I end up marrying. Maybe she'll get tired of waiting and just tell me what's in her beef marinade."

Hikaru felt an odd sort of shock at the words 'whoever I end up marrying', a mental picture of a faceless girl next to a slightly older, incredibly handsome Touya giving him a strange, out of sync feeling.

"Yeah," he said automatically. "My mom's a good cook," he added vaguely. He walked around the kitchen while Touya poured the drinks, feeling suddenly restless.

Touya poured himself a glass of pineapple juice, then a glass of milk for Hikaru. "It's only too bad that I'm not all the interested in the girls I meet."

The words startled Hikaru. No, it was more that he was startled by how he felt hearing them. He felt oddly pleased. 

"How interested do you have to be, to get married?" he said, expressing his own thoughts. 

Leaning back against the counter a bit after putting the juice and milk away, Touya shrugged. "It's the rest of my life gone if I make the wrong choice. Well, I could always get divorced, but there's so much hassle involved. Whoever I marry has to be able to deal with the fact that my entire day is usually filled with Go, and it's going to be like that for years and years. It has to be the kind of person who can tell me that sounds like a good thing. But, so far, the closest person I've come across who feels that way is Ogata and he's way too old for me." Touya grinned, then turned around and grabbed the filled glasses. "Come on. Let's go play."

Hikaru made a face at Touya's 'joke' about Ogata. "What's the big deal? You just need someone who will keep the house nice and who can cook decently. I bet most girls would be happy enough to be married to a famous Go master." He was only half serious - when he thought of girls or getting married (some time a long time away), that was how he thought of it. Someone to keep house and cook for him when his mom was gone.

"Shindou... with the salary you'll be making, you can hire someone for that, and then if you don't like them, you can fire them and get a newer, more attractive model. Marriage doesn't work like that, though. Touya paused at the door and waited. Hikaru made no move to do anything, so Touya held out the glass of milk for Hikaru to take. "Doors do not open on their own, Shindou. You have to open them yourself or you'll never get through."

Hikaru took the glass and opened the door with his other hand. "There's that tone. You sound like an old man when you do that."

Touya edged through the door and gazed pointedly at Hikaru. "If I poured that milk on your head, you'd look like an old man. We could be old men together! Wouldn't that be great? How about it, Shindou? Want to play Go against me for the next 80 years?" He yawned suddenly. "Sorry. You know us old men can't keep up with little whippersnappers with bleach-blond streaks in their hair."

Hikaru followed and sat down next to one of the gobans, but instead of sitting up, he drank about half the milk and then lay back on the floor, staring at the ceiling. His yawn answered Touya's. "Why did you make me do that?" he said. It was the oddest thing: he felt completely relaxed. After feeling so bad after realizing Sai had disappeared, for so long, he finally felt somewhat at peace with himself. And here he was, lounging around Touya Akira's house. 

"Of course I'm going to play you for the next 80 years," he said aloud to the ceiling. "Unless you retire early, like you do everything else."

Touya sat down at his own side of the goban. He was being far more open than he normally was, saying all of the challenging and funny bits he always thought, but kept to himself. And he felt comfortable in Hikaru's presence, perhaps even moreso than he did around his own father. Though, to be honest, Touya Meijin struck an imposing shadow to live in. "What else do I retire early from?"

"No, you do everything early. You always have to be the first," Hikaru corrected him. "I never had met anyone like you," he said. It just kind of slipped out.

Touya took a quiet sip of his juice. "I've never met anyone like you, either, Shindou. And, yet, you're always right behind me, so it feels like I've known you forever. Every time I look over my shoulder, you're there. But, lately, I think I've been seeing you in my peripheral vision. Maybe I've lost focus a bit. Or maybe you really are just that good."

Hikaru sat up. "You better stop thinking of me being behind you, and think of me in front of you, facing you. Like now." Drinking the rest of the milk, he reached for one of the containers of Go stones.

Chuckling softly, Touya pointed at Hikaru. "You've got a mustache." He grabbed his own dish of stones and opened it, sitting back just slightly.

Hikaru lifted his arm to wipe his mouth on his sleeve, stopped, and reached for the moustache of milk with his tongue instead. Reaching in to the bowl, he took a few stones in his hand and held his fist over the board, waiting for Touya to put out one or two stones.

Shaking his head slightly, Touya placed one stone, then reached across the goban and trailed his thumb over the bit of milk that Hikaru had missed, nudging his hair out of the way and casually noticing that it was very silky. He pulled back and waited for Hikaru to set down his stones. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "Shindou?"

Hikaru blinked and looked up. "Hm?"

Touya looked at him strangely. "Nigiri?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah," he opened his hand and released the five stones in it. "Good luck," he said formally.

Taking the black stones, Touya returned the greeting and placed his first hand. After he had placed, he said, "Are you okay, Shindou? You look a bit preoccupied with something?" 

"I'm fine," he said, wanting to rub his hand over his mouth to make it stop tingling. But he felt embarrassed to do so. Instead, he turned his attention to the board and made his move.

They each took the game in stride for the next several minutes, placing stones quickly and efficiently. However, at one point, Touya mistakenly focused on Hikaru's fingers for one of the other boy's moves, rather than on which point he was placing his stone. His fingernails were still not as smooth as most Go players', and his index finger didn't have the trademark flat top that even Touya himself had. Then, he noticed something a bit odd. "Shindou, do you file your nails?"

Hikaru glanced down at his hands and a little color crept into his cheeks. "Yeah. Why?" And why is he looking at my fingers instead of playing? Am I doing that badly?

Touya smiled. "I thought I was the only one that did that. It helps to get the proper set to the stone, doesn't it?" He smiled, and placed his next stone as an example. That familiar pa-ching seemed to echo longer than normal today.

Hikaru blinked, his attention drawn to Touya's fingers. He remembered the first time he'd noticed the way powerful Go players' fingers seemed to shine with light when they placed a strong move. He nodded, forcefully drawing his attention back to the game. "That's what Sai..." it slipped out before he could stop it.

"I'd have liked to have met him," Touya said. "He obviously had a rare insight about this game to be able to teach it to you so well." He placed his next stone, watched Hikaru's next, then frowned slightly before placing his next stone. "He must have known Shuusaku's moves well. He taught them to you. And then he taught you more. Or..." He paused and took a moment to consider Hikaru's face. "Or did you teach him?"

Hikaru felt oddly disarmed by the way Touya was talking. He looked down at the Go stone in his hand for a moment, and while looking at it, he took a deep breath and said, "You have met him. You met him the first time we played." Then he looked up, meeting Touya's incredible green eyes as he placed the stone on the board.

"But, there wasn't anyone else around!" Touya's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Do you mean to tell me that he's invisible? Or... or what? Is he a ghost that you found in your cereal one morning?" By this point, Touya had risen to his knees and had his hands clenched around the sides of the goban.

At the word 'ghost', Hikaru went dead pale. He got up suddenly. "I think I better go," he said wrenching his eyes away from Touya's, preparing to bolt.

Touya's hands were shortly thereafter wrapped around Hikaru's arm, tighter than he had gripped the goban. "Don't leave," he whispered. "Tell me." He swallowed audibly. "Now that I've seen what it's like to... to be your friend... Please, don't push me out of your life!" He was gradually moving around the goban, and then suddenly found himself with an armful of Hikaru, one of his hands having let go to grasp Hikaru around his back. "Don't push me away, Shindou. Please. Please, don't." And, then, he laughed. "I think... I don't know, Shindou, but I think this has been the best day of my life so far."

The feeling of Touya's arms around him caused Hikaru to freeze. The emotion in his voice hit a nerve that was still very tender. The truth was, Hikaru had gotten used to not being alone and once he'd realized Sai was gone, there had been an emptiness surrounding him that was nearly unbearable. It had only been a couple of years, right? Why had he never noticed before Sai, how empty it was to be alone?

Turning his head, he opened his eyes and looked into the bright ones so close to his own. Touya wore his beauty so perfectly and unconsciously that Hikaru had always just accepted it. Suddenly it seemed to flash into his eyes.

He swallowed and followed with a deep breath. "Touya... that doesn't make any sense."

Releasing some of the tension in his arms, Touya leaned back slightly and looked closely at Hikaru. "Probably not. But, you seem to make me forget about a little thing called reason." He then noticed just how closely he was holding Hikaru. "Shindou! I'm... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I just," he lightly bit at his bottom lip and searched for the right words as he searched Hikaru's face for answers, thousands of questions coming to mind. "I just didn't want you to leave. It didn't seem right, somehow." His hand came up of its own accord and he trailed his fingers lightly along Hikaru's cheek, brushing a few blond strands of hair with the back of his hand. "I'm not sure what I'm doing. But, this..." He stroked his thumb along Hikaru's cheek. "This feels right, somehow."

Hikaru's normally already-wide eyes went wider still. 

It occurred to him quite clearly and distinctly that he should push Touya away as roughly as possible, and perhaps even give him a knuckle sandwich.

But that wasn't what he wanted from the other boy - to see him hurt. He wanted... to beat him at Go. And... and what? To have Touya look at him the way he had looked at him once before. Shocked. Overwhelmed. He wanted that intensity focused on him the way it had been at first. Until he realized it was Sai Touya was really looking at...

Without thinking about what he was doing, he suddenly pushed Touya down onto the floor, pinning him with his body. There - the green eyes widened perfectly. Groping for how to follow that up, Hikaru leaned down and suddenly planted his lips on Touya's mouth. It wasn't much of a kiss, it was clumsy and somewhat innocent, but it sent a shock of electricity through his body nonetheless.

When Hikaru had pushed Touya down, he had flinched, thinking that Hikaru was about to hit him, though for all that he was the wild type, he wasn't violent. But, instead, he leaned closer just a bit, just enough that Touya opened his eyes a bit more just to make sure that his mind wasn't just showing him what he wanted to see. Then he had to make sure his mind wasn't just letting him feel what he wanted to feel. His hands had been at his sides when Hikaru pinned him, but he'd loosened up as Shindou leaned down to kiss him. 

Just as he had begun to pull away, Touya's hands came up to grasp in the general area of his shoulder blades, clutching desperately at his rival's shirt. Before Hikaru could get too far away, Touya pulled himself up just slightly, just enough, and placed his lips on Hikaru's with the same intensity that he placed stones on a goban. It held all of the passion that their games always did, but there was no need to stay seated. In this game, movement seemed to be yet another form of combat, and so Touya moved one of his hands up along Hikaru's back, slowly but surely, and cradled his head in the cup of his palm; fingering his hair and pulling him down so that he wouldn't get a pain in his neck.

The electric shock of the first touch of lips on lips was nothing to the second. If he'd been thinking at all, Hikaru would never have expected Touya to react as he did. But thinking had gone out the window and didn't look like it was coming back any time soon.

Astonished, Hikaru felt it all, warm and soft and the tiniest tang of pineapple juice. Touya's hands seem to trace warm tingles where they touched.

Gasping, Hikaru's eyes snapped open a second after he realized the other boy had drawn back a little. He couldn't seem to do anything but stare. His lips felt... achy. His voice startled him - it sounded young and uncertain. 

"T-touya...?"

Touya sat up suddenly, moving Hikaru in such a way that he wasn't thrown off, merely shifted to one side. His hand came up to brush at his own lips, and this his eyes slid to look imploringly at Hikaru. "What did we just do?"

A sudden flush shot under Hikaru's cheeks. "You're asking ME?" he practically yelled. Licking his lips, he studied the other boy. Then he reached out a finger and brushed at a thick strand of Touya's straight-cut hair, watching it swing back.

Touya made a move to grasp at his hair and laughed. "Shindou! What are you doing?" He stopped suddenly and cleared his throat. "Um... I don't exactly know how to say what I want to say here. Uh, the thing is, I hadn't really thought about any of this happening, not at all. But, now that it has... How offended would you be if I asked you to ki-kiss me again?" At his stumble over the word 'kiss', he clenched his hands in resolve. "Kiss me."

Touya's eyes flashed imperiously when he repeated the two words. Hikaru recognized the expression and it made him want to laugh. 

"Do you always get everything you want, Touya Akira?" he said. Without waiting for an answer, he pushed forward and pressed his lips to Touya's again. He wanted another taste of that pineapple juice, and his tongue slid along the surface of Touya's mouth.

Gasping slightly as Hikaru's tongue made its way into his mouth, Touya felt a heady rush of pleasure tremble up his spine. He set his own tongue into motion, tasting at Hikaru and enjoying the sensation, leading the action into Hikaru's own mouth. He eased Hikaru back down to the floor with him, and then pushed Hikaru down onto his back. He hunched up a bit and swung one leg over Hikaru's prone body, then gently settled his weight down on top of Hikaru as they continued to explore each other's mouths. Every vein in his body seemed to be pulsing with new life, and he felt overwhelmed by his senses. Taste, and touch, and smell, and the tiny hiccups of moans that Hikaru kept releasing as they explored further. And the sight of it all... with Hikaru's eyes half-closed and his neck extended and the faintest beads of sweat forming at his temples. Seeing this, Touya pulled back slightly, then set his lips to the juncture of Hikaru's shoulder and neck, placing soft, nipping kisses there and working his way back up the other boy's neck, delighting in being so close to him.

Hikaru closed his eyes tightly as he felt Touya's mouth against his skin. The other boy's earlier words paraphrased in his mind. 'What are we doing... what are we doing??'

Reaching up, Hikaru pushed hesitantly at Touya's shoulders. "I thought," he mumbled shakily, "you just wanted one kiss..."

Touya froze. He sat up, careful to keep most of his weight off of Hikaru, still resting his hands on Hikaru's shoulders. "I thought I did, too, but then I started and I couldn't stop. It felt good, and it felt like I was making you feel good, so it seemed like I should, you know, keep going. I was just sort of feeling my way along, and that's what happened." He bit his lip and moved his hands so that his fingertips rested lightly on Hikaru's stomach. "I'm sorry. I won't let it happen again if you don't want it to." His hands trembled slightly, but he quickly regained control. "I'm terribly sorry, Shindou."

Hikaru scowled. Touya's fingers resting on his stomach were making him feel kind of hot, maybe feverish.

"No you're not," he said, looking into Touya's eyes. "I just want to know something. Have you... have you done this before?" Real curiosity seeped into his voice.

Touya's eyes flew open in shock. "What? No. I just... Well, a guy has to think about something other than Go sometimes. I think about what I've seen and then I imagine how that can be applied elsewhere. Kisses can be put anywhere, and they obviously feel good or no one would kiss. It's logical, like Go. Only, it's so very different. It's a good escape for me, like a nice break before having to play a tough match by having a very simple one." He examined his fingers as he spoke, though he didn't seem to notice that he was gently drawing small designs on Hikaru's stomach. "Besides that, no one has ever tried to do any of this with me before. I just... I knew somehow. I knew that I wanted to do it with you." He noticed his hands, and stopped their play, clutching them in front of himself. "It helped that you didn't seem to mind at first."

Hikaru sat up slowly, and then took Touya's hand in his. Lifting one to his lips, he kissed Touya fingertips.

"I don't mind," he said slowly. "I'm just.... surprised."

Touya didn't move from his position. He didn't return the kiss, or attempt to remove his hand from Hikaru's. He simply asked, "So, what would you like to do now?"

"I'd like to go to your room," Hikaru said, his mind racing. It didn't seem right to stay here, it seemed somehow disrespectful. That is, if they were going to do what he was starting to feel very interested in doing...

Nodding slowly, Touya got up, and then, as an afterthought, held out a hand and helped Hikaru up. "Follow me, then." He took Hikaru's hand and led him through the house and over to a set of stairs. They went up the steps side by side and Touya led Hikaru ahead of him once they got to the top. Through the door to the right of the stairway was Touya's room, and once Hikaru was in, Touya stepped to the side of him and shut and secured the door behind them. "So, um, we're here. Now, we should..." He moved to face Hikaru directly and placed his hands gently on Hikaru's chest and slid them down to the hem of the shirt. He lifted it slightly, then ran his hands underneath, feeling Hikaru's smooth skin. "Is this okay?"

Hikaru swallowed. Boy, Touya sure didn't waste any time. "Yeah," he said, his voice sounding odd in his ears. "So you think about things besides Go. What have you been thinking about?"

Touya felt like he was in a dreaming state. "A lot of things. Faceless people, mostly, and yet you're always there. Most of the people I see aren't male or female. They just are. But, lately... I've been thinking about, um, people on their knees, and the power difference there. And, how it would feel to have my body completely covered in kisses by someone with soft, warm lips. And, then, how it would feel to be pressed against someone so closely and comfortably that I forget where I stop and they begin and forget that it sometimes matters." 

His hands were inching up Hikaru's shirt, but his thumbs had hooked on the hem again. He used his elbows to urge Hikaru's arms above his head, and then carefully worked his shirt off, dropping it to the floor once it passed Hikaru's fingers. He set his hands back on Hikaru's shoulders, as it seemed the safest place for them. "Do you ever dream, Shindou?"

Hikaru swallowed, a flush stealing across his skin as Touya's words evoked mental images. "I... yeah, I guess so." Suddenly he reached out and began to unfasten Touya's shirt, determined not to be exposed by himself.

Taking shallow breaths as he grew ever-more excited by the feel of Hikaru's fingers brushing against his torso in a steady line downward with just the hints of warm breath that gusted upon him as Hikaru moved steadily closer for a better angle, Touya found his next words. "What do you dream about, Shindou? Do you have dreams like this? Like what we're doing?"

"I dream... about Go sometimes," Hikaru said, feeling strangely dull. "And about Sai," he added without thinking. "I dreamed about sleeping next to Sai, once, but it wasn't... not like..." He blushed again, letting Touya's shirt drop to the floor. The other boy was just as beautifully made under his clothes.

Touya let his fingers trail down Hikaru's arms to catch at his wrists. "Then you are the most pure of all the Go players in the world. Have you truly never thought of what fingers can do besides hold Go stones, and what lips may do beyond discussing a game?" He pulled Hikaru's arms up and around his neck and pulled him close, wrapping his arms around a boy who seemed only half aware of what he was doing. He kissed him softly, and molded his hands against Hikaru's back, holding his shoulder blades like Go stones: as delicately as he always handled his stones; as secure as he could keep them.

Hikaru closed his eyes and sank into the kiss, letting his arms move around Touya as well. The sensation of skin against skin made him shiver slightly. He felt out of balance. What was he supposed to have been thinking about? Kissing his rival?! But it felt so... 

His arms tightened as his heart began to race. He fumbled for a deeper kiss, as everything got warmer and warmer.

Touya noticed Hikaru shivering. "Come on," he said, and scooped Hikaru into his arms with little effort, carrying him quickly to his futon. He lay Hikaru down and sat next to him, leaning down to kiss his shoulder lightly. When the response that received was deemed favorable, he continued with more kisses, pausing after each to make certain they weren't unwanted. He kissed down to Hikaru's navel, then felt the top of Hikaru's pants edge against his cheek as Hikaru shifted. Touya also felt the evidence of Hikaru's arousal and mischievously shifted against it slightly, knowing how uncomfortable the feeling was, and wondering why he hadn't done anything about it already. He sat up again and moved his hands to the button on Hikaru's pants, holding them there while he asked, "Is this okay, Shindou?"

Hikaru leaned up on his elbows, looking intently into Touya's eyes. "Is it...? You really want to... do that?"

"I'm not opposed to the idea," Touya said. "But, there are other things we can do to each other. They're just easier when we're wearing less. If you want, I'll even take mine off first."

"Go ahead," Hikaru said, thinking it would give him time to get used to the idea. As if a week would give him time to get used to the idea. But it *was* exciting. Almost painfully so.

Touya stood again and went through the process of unbuckling his belt, then undoing the button of his pants, then sliding the zipper down, having to pull it away from his body slightly to give space to his erection. He slid his pants down and revealed his simple gray cotton boxers, slightly opened in the front. He could see the way Hikaru's eyes widened at the sight of him. "And, you?"

Hikaru climbed off the futon and fumbled with his pants, his eyes drifting up Touya's body and then jerking away, only to return in fascination. His white cotton briefs left little to the imagination.

Touya settled himself down on the futon and motioned for Hikaru to join him. He didn't have the slightest idea about what he was doing. However, he had some idea of how this was done, and that was far more than Hikaru seemed to have. So, there was want, and desire, and pleasure to be found if they could manage to figure out how. So, Touya followed his thoughts. And, now, he wanted to know if holding Hikaru's member felt very different than holding his own. He reached out with searching fingers and pressed them gently against the high point of the rise in Hikaru's underwear. It was so hot, and hard, and then he realized... "Is this because of me, Shindou?"

Hikaru closed his eyes at the pressure of Touya's touch through his briefs. He swallowed. "Yes," he answered, opening his eyes. "You're beautiful," he said. "I never thought about anything like this.... but I've thought about you so much in the last couple of years. Everything I've done... was because of you."

Hesitantly, he placed his hand over Touya's.

When Touya felt the touch of Hikaru's hand to his own, pulling him closer with the desire that he do more, it spurred him to action. His hand molded gently around Hikaru, gently stroking him at an achingly slow pace that seemed too much for Hikaru to handle, yet not enough at the same time. Hikaru issued forth soft moans and pleas that did not make sense in context, though they communicated so much with just the sound. With a catch of breath in his own throat, Touya pulled back Hikaru's briefs and moved his hand to brush directly against Hikaru's skin. Hikaru whimpered loudly, and Touya wrapped his hand just tight enough to keep a hold on Hikaru without hurting him. As he dragged his hand up and pushed back down again, he was quite certain that pain was the furthest thing from Hikaru's mind. Those noises he was making... Touya had heard nothing like them before. They were enticing, and erotic, and liquid that brushed against him in waves that drew him closer and closer to the boy at hand.

Before Touya could stop himself, his mouth was back on Hikaru's stomach, brushing kisses against the vaguely defined abdominal muscles and nuzzling in the faint traces of dark hair that were a stark sight against the boy's pale stomach. Hikaru was muscular, but not overly so, and was slender without being a waif like Touya often thought himself. His body was molded with perfection in mind, from the slightly upturned nose and easy-to-smile lips over his clean lines and carefully constructed torso, to his legs with calves that ached to have hands smoothed along them. Touya blushed with his next thought... even Hikaru's cock was beautiful. He then smiled slightly at the fact that his actions didn't bring a blush to his face, despite being decidedly more risqu� than his thoughts.

Being touched by someone else was nothing like Hikaru had imagined it to be. He hadn't thought about it much, but he wasn't as 'pure' as Touya had suggested either, he'd had fleeting thoughts and speculations and more than that, he'd touched himself, without really thinking about anything at all, because it felt good. 

But this was so much more intense than anything he'd even briefly imagined. And there was no mystery why, it was because of *who* was doing it, as much as what he was doing. Touya's incredible eyes focused on his body - Touya's beautiful, powerful hands sending waves of pleasure through him that were delicious enough to make him shudder. 

Eyes closing tightly, Hikaru mumbled and pleaded for Touya to stop, and in the next breath begged him not to stop. 

Suddenly his eyes opened and his hand closed around Touya's hand in a tight grip. Without thinking about what he was doing, he pushed his rival over onto his back and straddled him, rubbing himself against the soft skin of Touya's stomach.

As Hikaru pushed him down, Touya gasped. The contact... It was a heady rush and he was lost in it. His hands were everywhere on Hikaru's body, caressing his thigh as he grasped his shoulder; leaning forward to kiss his chest even as he pressed his hips up against the other boy. His heartbeat pulsed in his ears at a frenetic pace, and little whispers of thought got through that suggested things to do to the boy holding him down. He could push him back again, or pull him forward, or so many other things to go further. Because, he had to go further. He had to have more of this passion. His desire was flashing in front of his eyes white and hot and every bead of sweat that rose on Hikaru's skin and every trace of residual wetness as Hikaru licked his lips was something that Touya wanted for himself. And, so, he pulled Hikaru down to him, on top of him, and relished the weight of him. Hikaru was heavy enough that he kept Touya from taking very deep breaths, but he hadn't been taking them anyway. He was too busy gasping and moaning to breathe. Everything simply felt too good.

Touya's hands and mouth seemed to be everywhere at once, but the impulse, and the growing ache of pleasure building in his groin, pushed Hikaru to meet Touya's passion and struggle with it. He pressed his mouth over Touya's, his tongue mimicking the actions of his hips and he thrust blindly against his rival's body. Lifting his head, he panted a little, and his hands closed over both Touya's wrists and pressed them against the futon's surface. His rival's face was flushed with heat, not embarrassment. "Touya..." Hikaru bent down, the idea coming from nowhere, and licked the aureole around one of Akira's beautifully formed nipples. 

Hikaru was bringing out every emotion he possibly could in Touya, or so it seemed. Why else would he have screamed the other boy's name? "Shindou!" And then to have clutched him so close... He was so close. He had never been this aroused before, and this even though he wasn't being touched anywhere all that special. Hikaru seemed to have turned every spot on his body into an erogenous zone. Or, perhaps, he just knew what would feel the best, watched Touya's face as he explored his body, and was fine with exploiting Touya's weaknesses. Otherwise, why would he be so close to coming without having really done anything?

Touya pressed himself a bit more firmly against Hikaru, feeling his boxers open completely in the front; feeling the cool air in the room touch against his heated member. That, partnered with the dazzling kiss that Hikaru had just given him, and the softest touch on his nipples as Hikaru explored more, and Touya was gone. Orgasm shot through him and he cried out and his entire body tensed up as he came against Hikaru's stomach and held him close. He trembled slightly, one arm crooked around Hikaru's neck and the other around his lower back, and he gasped and felt so hot, too hot, and it was all too much and not enough and he held Hikaru and didn't know what else to do. It had been too fast, and too good, and Touya felt like every ounce of strength had deserted him, but he still held on and murmured words and phrases like, "Thank you" and "You're so beautiful" and "Sorry" into Hikaru's ear.

The sensation of something warm and moist in a small explosion against his stomach took Hikaru by surprise. His mind cleared a little and he realized what had happened as Touya's arms clutched him tightly against the other boy. 

Touya Akira had just come. He made Touya come.

It made his own body throb harder. Burrowing his arms under Touya's back, Hikaru pressed his face into the curve between Touya's shoulder and neck, closed his eyes tightly, and pressed himself against the other boy until he too cried out, voice muffled in soft, straight hair, jerked, and felt everything go out of him with the sharp, intense pleasure of release.

It was a few minutes later that he shifted, moving over onto his side next to the other boy without completely letting go. 

Opening his eyes, he saw incredible green eyes looking back at him, calm and quiet, if just a bit wider than usual.

Glancing down at the messy mixture of thick fluids smeared between their stomachs, Hikaru glanced up and then almost matter-of-factly said, "We made a mess." It covered some of the shock he was feeling, and quirked the corner of his mouth up, making him feel like he was going to laugh.

Touya was still trembling slightly, but refused to let go of Hikaru. "I... Shindou." He felt half-crazed, as though he were about to do something he shouldn't do and knew better. But, then again, he just had. And, that had gone okay. In fact, Touya thought, it had gone far better than okay. So, it just seemed to slip out when he said, "I love you." It wasn't a calculated move on a goban, or an attempt to throw Shindou off guard. It was simply the feelings that he had for Hikaru given a name. "I just... I love the way you do things, and the way you live your life, even if I don't always like it. If I didn't want to be around you so much, I'd probably want to be you. And, I don't know when I started to feel like this, but I've just now realized it..." He paused and saw the look of shock painted on Hikaru's face. "And please don't run away now that I've told you. You can go, and I'd understand, but... but don't leave in a hurry because then I'll know that this wasn't even anything special to you."

Hikaru felt a little shock go through his chest - something inside him *had* tensed for flight, it was a near habitual impulse when he was overwhelmed. 

Swallowing the obstruction that had somehow formed in his throat, he looked down, his head shaking a little from side to side. But looking down only brought their entwined bodies and the result of their actions into view again.

Hikaru pressed his lips together and made himself look back up.

"You don't know what you're saying," the words just came out, leaving his throat feeling achy and tense. "I'm not... I'm selfish. And self-centered. I can be... blind a deaf when someone needs me..." Sitting up abruptly, he gave Touya a look that was practically a glare. "Don't say things like that if you... You better mean it because if I... you won't be able to get rid of me even if you.. even if you hire someone to beat me up!"

Touya's eyes were wide. He took a deep breath. "Do you know what you're agreeing to?" He bit his lip. "We'd have to keep this a secret or we'd have to deal with the press. We'll have to deal with our parents, our friends... Other pros might look down on us. It's all... Are you willing to risk all of that for... this?" He motioned to the pair of them, and a small smile made its way onto his lips. He knew the answer he wanted. He only hoped Hikaru agreed.

The glare turned into a scowl. The scowl turned into a somewhat challenging grin. "You think I care what other people think?" Hikaru said, and then the expression softened. "If you want it to be a secret, fine. You have a lot more to lose than I do. As for people looking down," Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Everybody considers me to be a fluke anyway." Then he grabbed Touya's wrist. "Come on. You have a shower somewhere in this fancy house, don't you? I need to get you cleaned up."

 

There was something about having Hikaru suddenly take charge that calmed Touya. His trembling stopped, and he allowed himself to be pulled into a standing position. His breathing was coming back to its normal pace, finally, and he told Hikaru where the shower was. It was simple. "You go out of my room and it's the first door to the right." And, yet, when Hikaru tried to pull him toward the bathroom, Touya pulled Hikaru toward him and wrapped himself in those arms again, because it was the best place he'd ever been.

Hikaru yielded for a moment or two, resting his arms around Touya's shoulders and waist. Bending to put his lips next to Touya ear, he whispered, "You're real, I'm real." 

Then the sensation of the sticky fluid starting to dry on his skin made him impatient. "Now come on."

He pulled Touya down the hall, finding the first door on the right. He whistled softly - the bathroom was very nicely appointed - and then pulled Touya over to the shower. Without a word, he began removing Touya's crumpled boxers, and then slipping off his briefs. "We'll throw these in the wash when we get out," he decided, matter-of-factly. Then he turned on the faucets and adjusted the water to pleasantly warm and stepped in, pulling at Touya's wrist again.

As crazy as it was, he felt extremely calm when doing these things. More than calm. He felt strangely content. Reaching for the soap, he made a lather with his hands and methodically, gently, began washing the other boy.

Touya smiled as Hikaru practically rubbed him clean. They were so close, and it was so comfortable, and even though they were so exposed, it just felt so... right. At first, they shared an easy conversation about nothing more complicated than how glad they were that they didn't have to make their own soap. It left them time for more valuable things; like Go, for instance.

Touya grabbed the soap and began lathering up his hands; intent on washing Hikaru as Hikaru washed him. "How lucky are we to be this young and have this much? We've got careers... doing something we love. And, now, we have each other. I never realized how good I had it before, but this is really the life I want to be living."

"I guess I've been too busy living it to pay much attention," Hikaru said carelessly. "It's funny how suddenly things change."

He relaxed and was quiet while Touya bathed him, though part of his body woke up when the other boy's hands moved close. Hikaru watched his rival out of half-closed eyes. Suddenly he was seeing Touya Akira in a completely different way than ever before. His skin glowed. His body was perfectly made, graceful but not the slightest bit frail, showing the growth that would someday turn him into a man as tall and well-built as his father. 

Finally Hikaru took the soap out of Touya's hands and placed it on the rack, and then pushed the other boy against the tile wall of the shower. Slowly, he leaned forward and kissed Touya, as the warm spray bounced of both their bodies.

Leaning back after a while, he reached over and turned off the water. "When are your family coming back?" he asked.

Touya suddenly felt like he had a fever higher than anything he could imagine. His blood was boiling for Hikaru, and not in the frustration that he used to feel. "They're gone for the week. So, they won't be home for another two days." He arched his back and pushed his hips slightly against Hikaru's. "Are you trying to get me to invite you to spend the night?"

Hikaru tilted his head to one side. "I was going to start with getting you to find me something to eat," he said, and grinned. "Then I need to call home. And tell them I'm spending the night."

Laughing, Touya stood and pulled Hikaru close to him. "We don't have ramen, but I've been told I make good scrambled eggs. So, if you can manage toast, I think we shall have dinner somehow." He looked down Hikaru's body, then slowly followed a slightly different path back up until he was looking Hikaru in the eye again. "Then again, it may be a while until we get around to dinner."

"Oh yeah?" Hikaru answered, a slight, challenging grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You know what? I'm starting to think you have a dirty mind. Who'd have thought?"

Touya flushed slightly. "It's not my fault. You just stand there and look like you do, and I can't help it. These things just make my mind come to attention and think about you in, um, well, naughty ways."

Hikaru felt his cheeks getting warm. "Shame on you," he said, but he couldn't quite keep a straight face. Ducking his head, he stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and throwing another one over Touya's head. "I don't like the idea that you have a head start on me in something else."

Touya pulled the towel off of his head and stuck his tongue out at Hikaru. He then put the towel back on his head and began to dry his hair. From beneath the towel, he continued talking. "Yeah, well, that just means you're going to have to work hard to catch up. You can do that. I know you can. Then, next, you'll have to come up with something to get a head start on me in." He pulled the towel off with a flourish to reveal that his hair did not always lie straight, and smiled at Hikaru. "But, there is one more thing I have to do first..." 

With that, he snapped his wet towel at the back of Hikaru's thigh. Fortunately for Hikaru, Touya had good aim. Or, perhaps, that was unfortunate as well. The towel left a welt on Hikaru's leg and Touya let out a squeaking noise as he noticed it. "Shindou, I'm sorry!" He pouted and momentarily considered trying to hit himself with the towel. But, another though carried his mouth into motion. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

Hikaru's face had taken on a brief expression of shock as he felt the sting, and more, as he realized that Touya Akira had just popped him with a towel.

"Oh no you don't get off that easy!" he exclaimed, and the next thing Touya knew, he was being tumbled onto the floor of the bathroom, half on and half off the bath mat. Nimble fingers poked into the soft skin and muscles at the bottom of his ribcage, wiggling rapidly. In seconds, he was being tickled breathless.

Hikaru ignored his gasps and cries for mercy. Only when Touya was red-faced and unable to catch his breath did he ease up, and then he straddled Touya's thighs and reached down, brushing his fingertips so lightly along Touya's shaft that it was like being touched by feathers.

Touya's eyes rolled back into his head for a moment, simply because the feeling was that wonderful. Hikaru's fingers left little trails of warmth, and it all felt just so wonderful that Touya began to wonder why no one ever did this all day long. Then again, he supposed, it would cause one to be rather tired, and sticky quite often. But, with Hikaru, neither of those seemed as bad as they did without Hikaru. "When would your mother normally be expecting to hear from you or see you?" Touya asked, his fingertips stepping their way up Hikaru's leg from the knee.

"If I call by seven it should be okay," Hikaru said. His parents were incredibly tolerant of his activities. He didn't tell them a great deal but somehow they seemed to realize he wasn't going to get in trouble with drugs or anything like that. Though what they would think of this activity... however he had an answer for that. He wouldn't tell them until such time as they absolutely had to know. 

He felt Touya's hand creeping up his leg and smiled. Then he brushed his fingertips up and down the other boy's erection once again, so he could watch the expression that seemed to blur the other boy's wonderful features slightly.

Touya took a haphazard glance at the clock in the bathroom, then took a closer look. His fingers froze mid-step, and he moved his gaze over to Hikaru's confused face. "It's half past seven."

"Oh?" Hikaru seemed remarkably unconcerned. He smiled down at the boy under him and then got up, feeling reluctant. Reaching down, he gave Touya a hand up to his feet. "My cell is in my backpack," he said, and picked up one of the towels from the floor to wrap around his waist, and went out the door in no great hurry, pausing to get his bearings, and then heading for the practice room where he'd left his bag.

Kneeling beside it, he extracted the device and speed-dialed home. As he waited for his mom to pick up, he glanced at the goban with a few stones still scattered across it and smiled. 

"Mom? I'm spending the night at Touya's. Touya Akira - he's a pro, mom. My age. Yes, the one that beat me at the high school tournament," he said and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, they'll feed me," he omitted to mention that the other boy's parents were out of town. "I'll be home tomorrow. You too."

Touya watched as Hikaru put his phone away. "You realize that at some point, we'll have to finish playing that game." He smiled. "But, that can wait because your stomach is growling. So, we should get dressed. Then, after that, we'll have food. And, I suppose we'll go from there, just taking things as they come."

Hikaru stood up and shook his finger at Touya. "We can't get dressed because our underwear is still kind of funky. Or, I suppose I could borrow some of yours. But I wonder how long they will last."

Crossing to the other boy, he placed his hands on Touya's shoulders and leaned close to place a kiss on Touya's cheek. "You can't cook in a towel? Oh, and that taking things as they come... that's a pretty bad joke even for you," he said, and winked.


End file.
